By George Robbins
Fair is fair and credit needs to be given where it is due with everything that is currently going on in the world right now. Some companies are handling things pretty well right now given how the world is currently functioning and it is pretty apparent. Unfortunately, Disney does not really seem like it is being one of those companies with everything they have been in the news for as of late. Of course, one of the biggest things they have been in the news for over the past couple of months is for their stance on the reopening of their parks. Their reopening plans have been a huge source for debate given all of the information that keeps coming out about their current business practices.
As of late, Disney has been doing all they can to try and get people back into their parks and so they have tried to open their parks back up again as early as possible. This turned into a huge point of contention given the fact that the world at large is still very much a dangerous one. This even resulted in an heiress from Disney calling out the company for openly allowing the risk that could cause people to get sick. They tried making up for this by putting restrictions in place, but it seems that everything they try to do just ends up being for naught. They keep going against themselves and it keeps coming back out in the news in some way shape or form.
Not too long ago, the Disney company came under fire due to the fact that they are apparently allowing Disney employees to work while Covid-positive. This kind of goes against the fact that they have restrictions in place in their parks in order to try and keep park guests and their employees from getting sick. Needless to say, much of what Disney now says holds much less weight than it did earlier during the pandemic. That aside, they are still trying to say that they have peoples’ best interests in mind when it comes to their movie releases. This may or may not be the case, but it just seems more likely that things worked out better with the way they are doing things now.
Disney is well-known for their parks, but the thing they are known best for by the general public are their movies. Most specifically, they are known for the animated films that they produce, but over the past decade they have managed to make themselves established in the live-action market. It isn’t as though they have never tried to shove their way into that market, it is just that they were never really all that great at making films that did well in that market. That is, until they bought Marvel Studios and Lucasfilms which ended up making them the biggest blockbusters the world has ever seen. Before then, most of their successful live-action films were straight-to-TV movies that were popular with their young audiences.
After discovering that they did have their hands in a successful market with the live-action crowd, they continued working onward with that in mind. This is how the age of re-releases began in the Disney company and it is the reason we have live-action versions of their older films now. Disney decided at some point that their best chance of getting their own in-house live-action films to be successful would be to take old successful films and turn them into live-action versions of themselves. This is why there are now live-action versions of their older animated classics which release every so-often. The most recent of those releases ended up being the re-release of the animated film ‘Mulan.’
‘Mulan’ is a film that follows the titular heroine as she battles against the Hun forces which are invading her home country. The main point of the film is the fact that she pretended to be a male so that she could join the Chinese army in her father’s place in order to save his life. The story of Mulan is a famous one in China and the character is a major historical figure to this day. Unfortunately for Disney, although the China market was their best bet for making money for the release of both the original animation and the new live-action version, this plan failed miserably. Both of the films actually sold well in the United States, despite the new version having to be released straight to digital. Meanwhile, in China, both versions of the film were disappointing in both execution and overall box office.
Not only has the film been seen as an overall disappointment, but it has been a disappointment that has been surrounded by nothing but controversy. Much of that controversy comes from the fact that the movie apparently runs through a lot of different Chinese stereotypes. Beyond that, however, they also included thanks in the credits for filming locations in China where there are currently internment camps which many fans noticed while watching through the credits. This has sparked perhaps the biggest bit of controversy related to the film as of late because viewers believe that by thanking government groups from the region, Disney is indirectly supporting this cultural genocide. This issue, along with other claims that the film has been whitewashed, has brought about a movement to boycott the remake.
By George Robbins
Movie theaters have begun the slow and painful process of reopening their doors to the public now that rules have been put into place. With the new rules in place, theaters have been able to allow people back through their doors to see whatever movies that they have available to them. That is not to say that there is actually a decent amount of movies actually available however, as there aren’t. This is mainly due to the fact that studios don’t want to release films if they are not going to make the money they want off of them. Therefore many films have been pushed back so that time can be allowed to accumulate where people may build up their confidence once again in going to theaters.
As of now, it is known to many people that although public places are once again open to the public, it is still very dangerous. It only takes one person in an enclosed space to infect a number of other people and this is why many people are still not comfortable with leaving the house. This has become increasingly apparent as time goes on because it can easily be seen with how much money ends up entering every industry out there. For movie theaters it is the amount of money that ends up entering the box office over each and every weekend. It is how much money a movie itself ends up raking in after it has been out in theaters for a little while.
This justified fear that people have has made itself all the more apparent, at least for Christopher Nolan’s new movie ‘Tenet‘, over this past weekend. This previous weekend was only the second weekend that the movie has been released domestically and it has taken a sharp drop in the amount of money it has managed to bring in. The studio was ready to brave the storm following its opening weekend, but now things may become a bit more difficult for them. They brought in over $150 million over the first two weekends, but now they have only brought in $6.7 million which just shows that they may not have waited long enough because they could end up losing much more than they anticipated. Given that they need to make $500 million just to even come close to some kind of success, things are not looking well for them.
By George Robbins
Many films are currently working on getting things properly set up so that they can makes some kind of money moving forward. ‘Tenet‘ is probably the film that has been doing the best job adjusting as of late as it has made the most money out of every film which has had an authentic release. What I mean by this is simply that the movie has managed to have some kind of theatrical release involved in it in some way shape or form. Not many movies have been able to do this as they have either been pushed to some time later this year or some time next year, or they have done straight to digital. This makes it kind of difficult for them to make any kind of plans in which they can make a steady stream of income.
Some movies have been doing their best to make due with the cards they have been dealt, but it is not an easy game to play at the moment. For instance, even though ‘Tenet’ has managed to make money with everything that is going on, they are still far under the amount they need just to break even. This just shows how much of an uphill battle there is for them to be able to have a successful launch and the same goes for all other movies. The movie which seems to be having the most unfortunate time of all right now is the movie ‘Mulan.’ The movie had a digital release on Disney+ for a $30 premium on top of the subscription fee and then it had a theatrical release this past weekend in China.
The theatrical release in China is their way of making up for the fact that Disney+ does not have a foothold in China and movie theaters there are open in a larger capacity. This was meant to be their real way of making money off of the movie with everything going on in the world at the moment. It seems that things did not end up according to plan because the movie only ended up grossing $23 million in the Chinese movie market. It turns out that the buying option on Disney+ actually ended up raking in more over the previous weekend than the theatrical release did in China. Things are really not looking good for the live-action ‘Mulan‘ film and it is doubtful things will get better.
By George Robbins
DC movies are now definitely on the list of things that people watch out for nowadays due to the inception of the DC Extended Universe. Otherwise known as the DCEU, it is a shared universe which has characteristics very similar to other shared universes. Characters are off on their own adventures with nothing of note necessarily happening, at least in the grand scheme of things, and eventually they all come together in one big film to take care of one huge problem. Or they do have something noteworthy happen in their films which could change the whole world and yet only the main character and those related to them are around. DC has managed to be a part of the later camp.
Much of what happens in the DCEU happens on a catastrophic scale and many heroes are not really present for what happens in the films. They are all given their own space to make sure that they have films where they are given the floor, so to speak. Unlike other franchises though, the DCEU does a better job of getting multiple characters involved in what happens. Hence the reason Wonder-Woman, Superman, and Batman have appeared in a couple of films together already. Apparently this trend will not be stopping any time soon either as the much-awaited upcoming movie ‘The Flash’ will eventually give us a few sights to behold.
For those currently unaware, ‘The Flash’ was a movie which was announced during DC FanDome which will be releasing in the not too distant future. It will be a story which adapts the Flashpoint story in the comics which sees the titular hero travelling through time to some degree. As it will play around with potentially catastrophic events, as well as multiple timelines, it is of no surprise that the movie will have a number of heroes appearing in it. Multiple DC characters on top of Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton’s versions of Batman will be making their appearances in the film. This just makes the film all the more interesting to look forward to over the next year-and-a-half or so.
By George Robbins
Plenty of movies are now working to get themselves released onto the open market, but there are still plenty of restrictions in place to mess with those plans. Many movies have had the fun and difficult time of trying to get themselves on the market due to the pandemic that is still managing to plague the world we all live in. This has made it just a bit more difficult for studios to carry on with their business nowadays and many movies have not released yet as planned. Although many movies are still waiting off in the wings, some have actually managed to release to the public at large. This is how we recently had releases for a small number of films within the past month or so. Well, more specifically, over the past few weeks there have been some releases.
One of the biggest releases that the world was treated to was the release of the long-awaited movie ‘Tenet‘ from director Christopher Nolan. Nolan had been advocating for awhile by the time of the movie’s release for the film to be the first one available once theaters could reopen their doors. This mostly ended up being the case as the movie had its international release as the first blockbuster film to release since the start of the pandemic. Even though the film had to wait an extra week to release in theaters domestically, it was still an overall success and among the first major releases in some time. Considering the limited variety in films upon release, it is no surprise that the film did so well.
Even though the film ended up doing well, the fact hasn’t changed that the film did not make as much money as it would have if the pandemic wasn’t an issue. It definitely did better than what they originally expected from it, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have an uphill battle going against them. The world is still in a very bad place at the moment and people are trying to just brush that fact aside which only makes things worse. Therefore, studios are in just as terrible a spot as the rest of the world at large and movies have a long way to go before they can start making money the way they want to again in theaters. Theaters are not the only option for movies to make money though as we have learned well by now.
Video on Demand, or VOD, is perhaps one of the best ways for film studios to make their money nowadays as it allows people to pay for new films without issue. Perfect for the pandemic, VOD allows people to watch new movies without having to leave their homes and risk their’s or other people’s health. This is not the best case scenario for them though as having a theatrical release beforehand allows studios the chance to make even more money before they permanently allow people to own their films. Hence the reason many studios have decided to just wait until a good time for them to be able to show their films in theaters. This is actually how we ended up with many films being delayed until either late this year or some time next year. On that list of films that have been delayed was the spiritual “sequel” to the movie ‘Candyman‘ which shares the same name.
In order to put things simply, I will just say that the original ‘Candyman‘ movie is a supernatural horror movie. It followed a young woman as she was being haunted by a man who killed whomever he felt was necessary to achieve his goals. Now we will soon be seeing a new rendition of the film which is being produced by Jordan Peele. It is one of those movies that will not be going straight to VOD and will actually hold out for a theatrical release, but some have asked why it will be among that group of films. Director Nia DaCosta admitted recently that the reason the movie is being pushed to next year for a theatrical release is because she insists that it is a movie that should be experienced by groups of people in theaters instead of being viewed individually at home. Whether this is true or not will be determined when the film releases theatrically in 2021.
By George Robbins
Recently, movies have been getting released on VOD instead of waiting for a full theatrical release because it is easier for studios to do. For instance, if you were to tell them to wait a lot longer to make money or they can save time and still make money, which option do you think companies would take. This is the dilemma they are currently facing and it is an annoying one because there isn’t actually any kind of right answer. No matter how you look at it, waiting until a theatrical release becomes much more viable is a decision that will no doubt make more money. However, the main problem comes from the fact that studios need money now in order to start working on new projects for the future.
This is why some movies are instead being released straight to VOD so that studios can at least try and make money the way they originally intended to. However, this is resulting in a loss of money because people just like the experience of going to movie theaters which is where most of the immediate money is made for new movies. Unfortunately yet again, people don’t want to go out to the movies even though theaters are now starting to open back up again because of the obvious danger of a pandemic going on right now. This was very heavily taken into account as it was pointed out recently for the Disney+ release of ‘Mulan.’ The Disney company took notice of this fear and they made that apparent recently.
Disney has been doing their best not to try and put out their films at the wrong time in order to try and make the most money they can from the film. Their most recent release is the live-action release for ‘Mulan‘ that they were trying to give a theatrical release. Unfortunately for them, the movie theater situation is still far too volatile and people are not comfortable with them yet, so they made the decision to release the film on Disney+ for a premium on top of the subscription fee. This ended up being a good choice as the number of Disney+ downloads spiked by 68% after the release of the movie to the platform. Needless to say they understand that people are hesitant about the whole situation, despite what they are apparently allowing at their amusement parks.
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